U.S. troop strength in Kabul falls below 4,000-official

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command, assist with security at an Evacuation Control Checkpoint (ECC) during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26. U.S. service members are assisting the Department of State with a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) in Afghanistan.

The number of U.S. troops at Kabul airport has fallen below 4,000, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, down from a peak of 5,800.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that a drone strike on Friday targeting an ISIS-K planner was not believed to have hit a senior militant and future military operations were possible.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Daniel Wallis)